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UNIS/CP/657
18 October 2011

United Nations Anti-Trafficking Fund Delivers Help to Victims

VIENNA, 18 October (UN Information Service) - The United Nations Voluntary Trust Fund for Victims of Human Trafficking today announced the release of its first tranche of funding for frontline organizations working with survivors of this crime. The announcement by the UNODC-managed Victims' Trust Fund sees close to US$ 300,000 being disbursed under the 2011 Small Grants Facility to organizations working at the forefront of services to trafficking victims.

The 12 projects which were selected for the first year of the Small Grants Facility cover all major regions of the world. Projects based on received funding are set to be rolled out in Albania, Cambodia, Costa Rica, the Czech Republic, France, India, Israel, Kenya, Nepal, Nigeria, Republic of Moldova and the United States.

The Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Yury Fedotov, welcomed this first disbursement but called for heightened financial support for the Victims' Trust Fund: "A unique approach is being employed by the UN to channel severely needed funds to survivors of the horrific crime of human trafficking. There is a critical need for increased donations so that we can step up this assistance. There is no place for human trafficking in the world and the Small Grants Facility has a role to play in eradicating this inhumane act."

With projects running from ten months up to three years, the funding assists in several areas, with the ultimate aim of empowering trafficking victims to regain their futures. These services include legal support to allow victims to seek justice against those who enslaved them; facilities to register their identities and to return home; and much needed counselling, training and support to ensure they are in a position to rebuild their lives.

The 12 recipient organizations reflect a cross-section of work being done in the global fight against human trafficking. The following are the successful organizations, with full details of each project available online (
www.unodc.org/humantraffickingfund).

• African Centre for Advocacy and Human Development (Nigeria)

• Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking (United States)

• Damnok Toek Poipet (Cambodia)

• Different and Equal (Albania)

• DNI (Costa Rica)

• Hors la Rue (France)

• Hotline for Migrant Workers (Israel)

• Institute for Democracy (Republic of Moldova)

• La Strada (Czech Republic)

• Shakti Samuha (Nepal)

• The CRADLE - the Children Foundation (Kenya)

• The Esther Benjamins Memorial Foundation (Nepal/India)

The Victims' Trust Fund was formed in late 2010 following a United Nations General Assembly Resolution to increase global anti-human trafficking responses, particularly from a survivor-centric perspective. The Victims' Trust Fund supports on-the-ground organizations and offers the opportunity for Governments, the private sector, international organizations, NGOs and individuals to work together to help victims of this crime in a practical and tangible manner. The Victims' Trust Fund, which is administered by a Board of Trustees representing different regions of the world, accepts donations of any size which are used to support organizations such as those recipients under the 2011 Small Grants Facility.